Accessibility Statement

This statement applies to the SimPatient web application at app.simpatient.co.uk, operated by St Andrews Medical Innovations Limited (trading as SimPatient). It does not cover our marketing website at simpatient.co.uk.

We want as many people as possible to be able to use SimPatient. For example, you should be able to:

• zoom in up to 400% without text spilling off the screen, and use the app on screens down to 320 pixels wide
• reach every control with a keyboard, see where the keyboard focus is, and jump past the navigation with the Skip to main content link
• use a screen reader: every page has its own title, controls have names, and each step of a consultation is announced
• hear each reply from the patient read out by your screen reader during a text chat consultation
• turn on captions during audio and video consultations with the Captions button
• read the figures in any dashboard chart as a table with the Show as table button
• complete any consultation by text chat instead of audio or video. Every scenario offers text chat, and text chat has no time limit
• reduce animation by turning on reduce motion in your device settings
• change colours, contrast and fonts with your browser or device settings

AbilityNet has advice on making your device easier to use if you have a disability: https://mcmw.abilitynet.org.uk

We know some parts of SimPatient are not fully accessible:

• captions in audio and video consultations come from speech recognition, so they can contain errors
• audio and video consultations end after 15 minutes and the time cannot be extended (text chat has no time limit)
• SimPatient has not yet been independently audited or tested with screen readers, so there may be problems we have not found

If you find a problem, or need information from SimPatient in a different format, email hello@simpatient.co.uk. Tell us which page you were on and what went wrong. We will reply within 5 working days.

If a problem stops you completing a consultation, we will offer you a way round it, such as text chat, while we fix it. If you use SimPatient through your university or college, its disability or accessibility team can also help.

The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 apply to public sector bodies, such as universities, that provide SimPatient to their students and staff. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) enforces them. If you are not happy with how we respond to a complaint, you can raise it with your institution, or contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS): https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

SimPatient is committed to making its web application accessible, in line with the accessibility regulations that apply to the institutions we work with.

SimPatient is partially compliant with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.2 AA standard, because of the non-compliances listed below.

We aim to fix these as part of the independent audit described below, and will update this statement when we do.

The patient voice in audio consultations and the avatar in video consultations are streamed by our providers (ElevenLabs and Anam). The controls around them, including captions, are ours and are covered by this statement.

This statement was prepared on 18 October 2026. We checked 25 pages, covering everything a learner uses (sign-in, scenario library, briefing, text chat consultation, reflection, feedback, history and profile) and the main staff pages. We used the axe-core automated checker against WCAG 2.2 A and AA, and tested the learner journey by hand with a keyboard only.

We also check accessibility as we build: the code is checked with eslint-plugin-jsx-a11y, and in development every page is checked with axe-core.

We will commission an independent WCAG 2.2 AA audit, including testing with screen readers, and publish an updated statement with its results.